OSP reports no deaths, increase in DUII for Super Bowl 2014

The Oregon State Police reported Monday that there were no fatal traffic crashes in the state during Super Bowl weekend, which is considered one of the most dangerous times to be on the road due to impaired drivers.

Between midnight Friday and 6 a.m. Monday, the agency reported 43 DUII arrests, up from 31 reported arrests during the same event last year.

In 2013, two people died in two separate fatal traffic crashes in Oregon, one of which was alcohol-involved. Over the last eight years, 16 people have died in traffic crashes on state roadways during Super Bowl weekend. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, impaired drivers contribute to Super Bowl Sunday status as one of the more dangerous days for travel. Nationwide, approximately 48 percent of traffic fatalities on the Sunday of the event involve a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher.

Since 2007, OSP troopers have arrested over 300 DUII drivers during Super Bowl weekends. Preliminary statistics reported for OSP offices this year with two or more arrests during the nationwide effort to remove impaired drivers from the road:

• Portland Area Command - 7 DUII arrests

• Springfield Area Command - 7 DUII arrests

• Albany Area Command - 4 DUII arrests

• Astoria Area Command - 3 DUII arrests

• Salem Area Command - 3 DUII arrests

• Central Point Area Command - 3 DUII arrests

• Grants Pass Work Site - 3 DUII arrests

• Bend Area Command - 2 DUII arrests

• Coos Bay Area Command - 2 DUII arrests

• Klamath Falls Area Command - 2 DUII arrests

OSP, Oregon State Sheriffs' Association, Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and the Oregon Department of Transportation issued a “thank you” Feb. 3 to “everyone who made the right call and placed the keys in the hands of a designated sober driver.”